


tough pill to swallow

by KingNCP



Series: The Struggles of a Thief [1]
Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, James Barkley - Freeform, Sly Cooper OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21993532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingNCP/pseuds/KingNCP
Summary: With Tony and Samantha Johnson murdered, the only witness is a little brown raccoon who was found near the crime scene. With the right touch, maybe someone could get him to fill in the missing details and help interpol solve this case? Kinda like an origin story for my OC.
Series: The Struggles of a Thief [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594156
Comments: 7
Kudos: 2





	tough pill to swallow

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Welcome to my first ever story on Ao3! I'm a lot more familiar with writing stories over on DeviantArt.com but I'm looking forward to seeing how I like Ao3. Hope you guys enjoy the story, I'll be diving into my OC's and his parents' lives+history more in the future so maybe I'll post those here too.

_Paris, France. July 9th, 1994_

"Listen kid, we know you're shaken up about what you saw last night. But, we need you to tell us what happened or we can't catch whoever hurt those people and put them in jail. Let's take it from the top ok? Do you remember what happened last night?" The Lynx sighed with a concerned look clear on her face as she looked over the case files on the table before looking over at her only witness of the crime.

The little raccoon's bandaged ear twitched as he listened to the officer trying to get him to open up. Just a few hours ago, he was getting the hole in his ear cleaned and disinfected, scratches taped up, and a warm meal in his stomach after spending over 12 hours in hiding. A weak growl was the officer's response as the kid clearly didn't trust her, but she could tell he was still frightened. His striking grey eyes scanned over the officer, surprising her when it settled on her standard pistol before a louder growl began to fill the room. She took the hint and carefully placed her gun out of his eyesight, before kneeling down and gently patting his knee, helping to quiet the growls that came from the scrawny kid.

"My name is Inspector Tonya Jones, I am 24 years old, and I just want to help you and your parents, kiddo." She muttered gently, offering the kid a weak smile as he flinched from her outstretched hand that nearly petted his head. She hesitated before rubbing his good ear, not missing the scared whine that slipped out before he nervously looked up into the lynx's amber eyes. "What is your name, little guy?"

"N-Nicolas..." The brown raccoon replied shakily, gripping tighter to the black cap that was clearly too big for him to wear and she could see faint traces of blood along the brim of the worn fabric. "Nicolas Johnson... I-I'm 7 years old....papa and maman liked to call me Nick." He muttered, ears pinning back as he sniffled before shaking and rubbing at his eyes, trying not to cry in front of the lynx. "M-Miss Jones, are maman and papa...gone?"

Tonya's eyes widened hearing that the little raccoon was claiming to be related to Tony and Samantha Johnson. She nervously glanced over at her supervisor, a slightly overweight badger named Barkley, who also was now staring at the young raccoon with a puzzled but stern glare before it quickly vanished to a calm demeanor when the kid looked over at him. "You're the... son of Tony and Samantha Johnson?" She gently asked, seeing him nod before hearing him whimper in worry as she gently patted his shoulder. "Is that why we found you close by? You didn't want to leave them?"

Nick nodded before rubbing at his eyes again, unable to hide a hiccup as a few tears began to fall onto his lap and his ears flattened back. "P-Papa and maman... t-they were gonna show me how to be a thief but..." His eyes widened in fear and he gripped onto the hat tighter before growling loudly. "T-The book! Where is the book!? I want papa's book!" He yelled while standing up on the chair with his tiny fangs bared.

"I'll get you the book we found, but you need to calm down first. I promise I'll give it to you once you tell us what you remember about last night." Tonya gently assured him, petting his head before shooting a look at Barkley who she could hear yelling in fury about her promise to the little raccoon. "Now, you said you were gonna be taught last night? Why don't we start at what happened after your papa told you that you were gonna start training?"

Nick continued to bare his fangs, growling as he stared down the furious badger who was about ready to barge in and put the kid in his place before Tonya suddenly left the room to talk with the badger. His ears perked up and his head tilted curiously as he watched the two arguing through the interrogation window before flinching when he heard Barkley suddenly start shouting in pure rage before Inspector Jones walked into an office and returned to the interrogation room with a wrapped bundle under her arm. He stared at the bundle before holding out his hands, a bit hesitant as he removed the wrapper around the bundle and stared in awe as it was his family book. "Y-You didn't look inside it?" He asked curiously, wearing the black cap on his head now while holding the heavy book close to his chest. "Papa said only Johnsons are allowed to look inside it."

"We didn't look inside, Nick. But... I will answer your question from before, about your parents. Nicolas, I'm so sorry but... your maman and papa are no longer alive. They were hurt too much by the bad people for us to help them and they passed away. I'm so sorry..." Tonya admitted before pulling the little raccoon into a tight hug, a pained expression on her face as a few moments later the little raccoon was wailing in her arms and begging to see Tony and Samantha. "I'm so sorry, little one... I'm sorry." She simply whispered while rubbing his back, letting Nick cry until he was simply hiccupping and rubbing at his eyes. "I know it hurts, but I need you to tell me what you saw, ok? I promise we'll take down whoever hurt them with your help."

Nick hiccuped once more before whining as he rubbed his eyes again, his cheeks damp from his tears and eyes bloodshot from his sobbing and rubbing. Tonya noticed that the more she looked at the little brown raccoon did he resemble Tony Johnson more and more. He had the same messy hair, sturdy brown fur, the same number of rings on his tail, and the famous grey eyes that were known to belong to only members of the Johnson family. What was different, however, was that his natural mask was a tad tamer than his father's. "W-Will it help you?" Nick whispered, his voice hoarse from his sobs and the cap on his head drooping down to cover his eyes more. "I-If I tell you, you gotta promise you'll find them."

Tonya smiled softly before rubbing Nick's cheek, wiping away a few stray tears that fell from his eyes with her thumb before nodding. "I promise, I won't stop until whoever did this will be put behind bars and locked away for a VERY long time. In fact, if you tell me I promise I'll come to visit you at the nearby orphanage once in a while to make sure you're doing ok if you'd like. Now, what can you tell me about the people who scared you so bad and hurt your maman and papa?"

Nick's ears slowly perked up as he felt Inspector Tonya rub his cheek, a faint smile forming as he heard her assurance that whoever hurt his parents wouldn't get away unpunished. He looked down at his papa's book before taking a deep breath and looking up into her eyes. "Papa said they were called the Diablos. He told me and maman that the leader used to be a friend of his but he didn't trust papa's beliefs that thieves should only still from mean people who hurt others... like Robin Hood!" He giggled at the last part before looking scared again. "Papa was smoking outside when there was a loud bang and he ran inside to make sure I and maman were ok. My ear started burning after there was another loud bang and there were 3 people who kicked down the door and they were holding that thing over there." He whimpered as he pointed at the Inspector's pistol, unable to look at the gun and actively making sure his eyes didn't land on the object again. "Maman ran at them with a knife and there were more loud bangs and she fell onto the ground. Papa was really angry and grabbed the knife before hurting the men pretty badly before they hurt him badly... he yelled at me to run away and I climbed down the storm drain before there were more loud bangs." Nick began to cry silently again, using his dirty shirt to wipe his face before looking away from Inspector Tonya. "T-They chased me... and.. I climbed under a car before they could find me. I went back home to help papa and maman but they wouldn't wake up..."

"What did these bad men look like? Do you remember?" Inspector Jones asked before patting Nick's head, feeling heartbroken for the little raccoon. "That name you gave us earlier is going to be a very big help, but if you can remember what they look like we can find them really quick." She smiled before seeing him give a weak nod and wipe his eyes again before looking up at her.

"One was a scary looking lion with a scar on his hand... I think it was like a moon. He was taller than papa, and papa hurt him on his side with the knife. There was also a Jaguar who was really weird looking, his one eye was like mine but he couldn't see out of it I think? Maman kicked him pretty hard on his stomach when he grabbed her. T-The one who hurt papa the worst was a Tasmanian Devil, I think it was one because he sounded funny but didn't fight papa fairly." He growled, his fangs bared once again as the fur on his tail bristled in anger. "He hurt maman and papa for no reason!"

"I know... and I promise we'll capture them soon, Nicolas. I just need you to be a good boy and be patient for us, ok? Just promise me you'll be good and make some friends at the Orphanage we'll be taking you to in the morning. I heard that they're really nice over there and the food is really good!" Inspector Tonya grinned as he ruffled his hair through the oversized cap, that she now could tell belonged to Tony. Her ears perked up more and her grin widened as she heard him giggle and hug her tight as he stood up from his chair.

"I promise, Miss Tonya! I'll be good! I swear!" He giggled again before looking down at his papa's book and hugged it tightly, his little tail swaying more relaxed as he felt the Inspector pull him into a tight hug. He looked up at Inspector Jones before smiling bigger and adjusted the hat on his head so he could see better. "I know you can help my maman and papa, Miss Tonya. Thank you."

_Paris, France Modern Day_

Nick Johnson, now age 32, was dressed warmly in a brown trench coat with a white sweater and blue jeans as he trudged through the streets of Paris, a small smile on his face as he was holding onto a bottle of Pinot Noir that had a black and yellow calling card tapped to the neck of the wine, along with a small tin of shortbread cookies. He turned down an alleyway near the heart of the city and glanced around before quickly scaling up the fire escape and up to an apartment window. He looked inside and smiled softly as he spotted a 49-year-old female lynx cooking in the apartment's kitchen and not noticing the visitor at her window when he gave it a few quick taps and slipped away into the chilled evening night.

The lynx's ears perked up in surprise as she heard the tapping on the window, causing her to whip her head around and see an aged bottle of wine and what looked like a tin of cookies sitting on the window sill. She turned off the stove and had a puzzled look on her face before spotting the calling card strapped to the bottle, which caused her brow to raise in suspicion before she read the note.

_Inspector Jones,_

_I hope that retirement is treating you well, and hope that you will have a great year. You might remember me more for being a pain in Interpol's side for many years, but I remember you more for helping to take down a small portion of the Diablos back in 2003, glad the info I and the Cooper Gang left you was enough evidence to put a dent in their numbers. I appreciate the help in bringing at least some of them down, but hopefully, the group's days will be numbered soon. It's a bit late reaching you, but I hope you'll take this wine and tin of cookies as a sign of thanks for living up to your promise, as well as helping a scared little brat feel safe again._

_-Yours truly, N_


End file.
